Posted on 07/10/2006 6:54:08 PM PDT by blam
900 troops sent to fight the Taliban
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent, and George Jones
(Filed: 11/07/2006)
Nine hundred more troops are to be sent to Afghanistan at the request of commanders fighting an intensified campaign against the Taliban, the Government said yesterday.
Despite assurances from commanders last month that the current mission of 3,600 troops in Helmand province was adequate, the number is being increased to 4,500. The first reinforcements will arrive tomorrow.
Senior defence chiefs insisted that the move was not the result of the deaths of six soldiers in the past month.
Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, who announced the build-up, denied that ministers had underestimated the threat faced by British forces deployed this year.
He told MPs that ministers and defence chiefs had expected "violent resistance" from the Taliban, drugs lords and tribal elements and had deployed "tough capable units, with robust rules of engagement".
The reinforcements will include 300 combat troops to help protect reconstruction work and will also free members of 3 Bn the Parachute Regiment to continue their battle against the Taliban in northern Helmand.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, described Iraq and Afghanistan as "very important campaigns we must win". He said: "When we are in a military operation we keep on going and we will keep going with this campaign. These operations are stretching us but they are not overstretching us." However, officers admitted during a press briefing at the Ministry of Defence that the Taliban "might have more shots in the locker". The BBC reported that local Taliban commanders viewed the reinforcement as "a sign of weakness".
The first new troops will be a 150-strong company from 2 Bn the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, based in Cyprus. A company of Royal Marines will also be sent to reinforce the Paras, with an additional 40 being used to help train the Afghan National Army.
It was unclear how long the extra deployment would last. Military leaders put it at between three months and up to the full length of Britain's three-year commitment to southern Afghanistan.
There is also an urgent need for more helicopters in Afghanistan, where Taliban ambushes have made travel by road perilous. MoD sources said they would "tease helicopters out of other places", which means taking machines from the Balkans, Northern Ireland or the Falklands.
Tony Blair, speaking at No 10, said it had always been understood that the mission would be tough "for a very simple reason: for the first time we are going into southern Afghanistan where the Taliban and the terrorists are trying to get a foothold back".
Although he received the support of the Tory and Liberal Democrat front benches, MPs on all sides expressed concern that the Army was being dragged into a "lethal" situation without sufficient forces or equipment.
James Arbuthnot, the Conservative chairman of the defence select committee, said the troops were being deployed "on a shoestring" and protested at Treasury attempts to limit the expense of Harrier jets being used to support ground forces.
Mr Browne said that, before making his statement about reinforcements, he had telephoned Brig Ed Butler, the senior British commander in Afghanistan, to ask whether he would have enough forces at his disposal. He had said yes.
He denied that the mission was "confused", that it had been portrayed as a mission to help reconstruction when the reality was that soldiers were fighting the Taliban.
The increase in violence was inevitable, he said, "because we are challenging the power of the Taliban and other enemies of the Afghan government".
Mr Browne assured Liam Fox, the Tory defence spokesman, that the soldiers were not being deployed as "narcotic police". They would neither destroy poppy fields nor fight farmers for bags of opium. They were creating the conditions of security and development in which the drugs industry would be weakened and driven out by the Afghans themselves.
All of the violence is due to the good guys killing a lot of bad guys and they need help. Make hay while the sun shines. This is a good thing. I'm sure their guys in A-stan get it and would welcome a hand.
UK take no prisoners.
I hope.
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